Taking Work Home: A Diary Study on Negative Cognitive-Affective Involvement During Off-job Time

Abstract

Negative cognitions and emotions about work during off-job time (e.g., worry about work tasks) can hinder the necessary recovery from work and lead to impaired well-being. To better understand when this so-called negative cognitive-affective involvement arises, we considered simultaneous and interactive effects of external and individual factors. Specifically, we investigated whether job demands (i.e., time pressure, cognitive demands, emotional demands) and maladaptive thinking patterns are independently and jointly related to negative cognitive-affective involvement and whether this is in turn associated with work-related well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion, cynicism). Using a diary study, we collected daily data from employees (N = 109) twice a day over two working weeks. Multilevel analyses showed that negative cognitive-affective involvement mediates the relationship between job demands (i.e., cognitive demands, emotional demands) and the two work-related well-being indicators. The relationship between cognitive and emotional demands, respectively, and negative cognitive-affective involvement is moderated by work-related maladaptive thinking patterns, with stronger relationships for employees reporting more frequent maladaptive thinking patterns. Moreover, work-related maladaptive thinking patterns moderate the indirect effects of job demands on work-related well-being via negative cognitive-affective involvement. Overall, we expanded the research on negative cognitive-affective involvement by providing a more comprehensive picture of its antecedents and outcomes.